I have to start this news letter with a sad announcement. Dick Johnson, long time NYRA member and skipper of the venerable Blue Bayou, passed away in June. His impact to NYRA and accomplishments on the race course are great and he will be sorely missed.

There have been a few races since my last letter, including the PSC Pirates on the Pungo which was won by Cotton Picker, back from a long rehab at the boat yard. Congratulations to Charles Douthit. Several other NYRA boats also raced including Water Phantom and Blue Print.

Hancock Yacht Club hosted the 40th annual Hancock regatta over the July 9th weekend. Unfortunately, someone forgot to order wind for the race. We tried to get in one race on Saturday but after a short delay and 2 hours of very slow progress in conditions that included spinnaker sets and a weather beat on the same leg, no one was able to finish within the 2 hour time limit. On Sunday, the wind was so light that races were not even started. This resulted in a DNF for each boat in the fleet and no awards; the first time I have ever seem a whole regatta get skunked on the Neuse. Note that someone had to win something, so the Brown Eyed Girl crew challenged the Echo crew to a game of 5 on 5 basketball, which the BEG crew won. Unfortunately, this will not be reflected in the BOTY standings.

BOTY standings have been updated and reflect lack of results from Hancock. According to rule 32.2 and 35, if no one finishes the race within the time limit, the RC shall abandon the race.

The First Citizen's Cup has been rescheduled for July 30 and will be hosted by Blackbeards Sailing Club and catered by Moore's BBQ. The Dragon's Breath Regatta is scheduled for August 6 and 7 in Oriental and is the second ICRC race. We are tied for second, with BSC, in the ICRC standings and need to have a solid turnout so NYRA can wrest the Dick Horn Trophy away from ODC. Please turn out to support your club.

Finally, the race management seminar will be held on August 27 at the Fairfield Community Center. NYRA members are strongly urged to attend and will be encouraged to help with RC work for the Winter Series. The board has yet to determine the Winter Series rules but we want to have racer participation with the RC. More info on this will be provided in my August news letter.

Lee King
NYRA Commodore
lking@nortel.com